INTRODUCTION: Hot Spots of Crime and Hot Spots Policing: A Research Journey

The Introduction reports on my journey to recognize the importance of hot spots of crime and hot spots policing. It focuses on the main research studies that I pursued in my efforts to learn more about crime hot spots and to advance programs of hot spots policing. This journey, which is reflected in the articles included in this volume, was not always planned and often seems serendipitous. It was driven by an underlying curiosity about observations I originally made in the 72nd precinct in New York City and then by research questions that were built one after another as my study of hot spots and hot spots policing developed. The main sections in the chapter discuss the Vera Institute of Justice 72nd Precinct Community Policing Study; the Minneapolis Hot Spots Patrol Experiment; the Jersey City Displacement and Diffusion Study; the Law of Crime Concentration at Places; Hot Spots Policing and Police Reform; and finally, the National Institute of Justice and National Institutes of Health studies that brought social context into the equation of crime hot spots and crime prevention.